Wee Pals
| Wee Pals | |
|---|---|
| Author(s) | Morrie Turner |
| Website | Creators.com: Wee Pals |
| Syndicate(s) | Creators Syndicate |
Wee Pals is a syndicated comic strip about a diverse group of children, created and produced by Morrie Turner.
Contents |
Background [edit]
Wee Pals first appeared on February 15, 1965. Syndicated by the Des Moines Register and Tribune Syndicate, the strip originally appeared in only 5 daily newspapers, as many papers refused to run a strip featuring black characters. After the assassination of Martin Luther King, the number of papers carrying the strip grew to 60; today it appears in over 100 dailies.
The strip is centered on the activities of a group of children from a variety of ethnic backgrounds. The regular characters include:
- Randy (African-American)
- Pablo (Chicano/Mexican-American)
- Diz an African-American boy who's never without his sunglasses and beret, he plays trumpet like his namesake Dizzy Gillespie and often narrates the Funky Fables strips.
- Ralph (Caucasian) He is the neighborhood bigot & ruffian who frequently gets his racist, sexist, rear handed to him when he insults the other kids in the neighborhood.
- Nipper an African-American boy who always wears a blue or grey American Civil War kepi, has a dog named General Lee.
- Mikki (African-American; about four years old)
- Oliver, a chubby, bookish white boy with glasses. Sometimes referred to as "Lil' Ebert" for his resemblance to a young Rober Ebert. He's usually the straight man in strips where one of the kids misinterprets an idiom or makes a pun.
- Connie, an athletic white girl who frequently clashes with Ralph over his misogyny and racism. She's an outspoken member of the neighborhood "Girls' Lib" organization, a play on the Women's Liberation Movement.
- Sybil, an African-American girl who is also in the Girls' Lib organization.
- Rocky (Native American)
- George (Asian-American of Chinese origin)
- Jerry (Jewish)
- Trinh (Vietnamese)
- Sally (nationality unstated, but deaf-mute)
- Wellington (nationality unstated, dark hair covering eyes)
The strip is currently distributed by Creators Syndicate. Turner still writes and draws the strips.
Animated series [edit]
Wee Pals was later animated as Kid Power, which was produced by Rankin-Bass and Videocraft Productions. It aired in the USA on ABC television Saturday mornings. A total of 17 episodes were made, most of which aired from September 16, 1972 to January 6, 1973, followed by reruns. In the following year, a few new episodes which were unfinished during the first sesaon aired on Sunday mornings (combined with reruns) until September 1, 1974. Animation was done in Japan at Topcraft.
Staff [edit]
- Produced and Directed by Arthur Rankin Jr., Jules Bass
- Teleplay by William J. Keenan
- Associate Producer: Basil Cox
- Animation Supervision: Toru Hara, Tsuguyuki Kubo
- Music: Perry Botkin Jr.
- Songs by Jules Bass, Perry Botkin Jr.
- Editorial Supervision: Irwin Goldress
- Sound Engineers: Jim Harris, John Boyd
Voices [edit]
- Donald Fullilove (Diz and Randy)
- Michelle Johnson (Sybil)
- Charles Kennedy (Nipper)
- Gary Shapiro (Jerry and Wellington)
- Jay Silverheels Jr. (Rocky)
- Greg Thomas (Oliver)
- Jeff Thomas (Ralph)
- April Winchell (Connie)
- Carey Wong (George)
References [edit]
- Strickler, Dave. Syndicated Comic Strips and Artists, 1924–1995: The Complete Index. Cambria, CA: Comics Access, 1995. ISBN 0-9700077-0-1.
External links [edit]
- Wee Pals at Creators Syndicate
- Wee Pals at Don Markstein's Toonopedia
- An appreciation of the strip
- Kid Power at the Internet Movie Database
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